Flying machine



W. HOFMAN FLYING MACHINE Jan. 26,1926. 1,570,742

Filed Feb. 6, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 [/vvE/vmR W. HOFMAN FLYING MACHINEFiled Feb. 6, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 35 f/vvE/v 70/? W By V 50 FigurePatented Jan. 26, 1926.

STATES WINCENTY HOFMAN, OF SOUTH CHICAGO 'ILLINOIS.

- FLYING MACHINE.

Application filed February 6,-.1925. Serial No. 7,328.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known. that .I', lVINoEN'rY HOFMAN,-

a citizen of Poland, residing at South Chicago, in the county of Cookand State of 5 Illinois, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Flying Machines, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to flying machines of the type propelled by wingsand the chief object of the invention is the provision of economicalmeans for propelling the wings.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a turbine drivenby a fluid such as compressed air for propelling the wings.

Another object of the invention is to utilize the pressure of the airduring the horizontal flight of the machine for the auxiliary motivepower of the turbine. Q

A still further object of the invention is the provision of improvedsteering means of the flying machine."

With the above general objects in view flared end as seen on Figure 4.The bowl and others that willappear as the nature'of the invention isbetter understood, the sameconsists in the novel construction,combination and arrangemet of parts hereinafter more fully described,illustrated in the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the appendedclaims.

In the drawings forming a part of this application, and in which likedesignating characters refer to corresponding parts throughout theseveral views,

Figure 1 is a sideele'vational view of the device with a sectional viewof the housing inclosing a part of the device;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the rear portion of the device broken onan irregular 'ti'ansversal line from the mainbody of the on line 22 ofFigure 1;

Figure 3.is-a transversal sectional view of a portion of the platformand of the wing taken on line 3 -3 of Figure 1;

of a portion of the machine taken on horizontal plane indicated by line4'-4 of Figure 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows;.and s is atransvers'al sectional view of the turbine'taken on line 5+5 ofFigure 1. Referring to the drawings, there is shown 'a platform 10 witha landing device aflixed therebelow and consisting of landing device '11at'the front end of said platform-and of a support 12 at the rearendthereof."

device, the'figurebeing taken substantially v Figure 4! is alongitudinal sectional view Longitudinally of the platform disposedthereabove' is the main shaft 13 supported on the platform by means ofupright beam 14 which at its upper end is provided with a bearing 15within which the shaft rotates. Forwardly of said bearing 15 andadjacent thereto a thrust bearing 16 is rigidly mounted upon said shaftpreventing the rearward shifting of the shaft.

Rearwardly of said support 14 a cone shaped drum 17 is positioned on theshaft and rigidly secured thereto by means of spider 18.

The forward wider end of the drum is open for receiving the air duringflight of the machine. Vane or blade 19 is spirally arranged within thecone-shaped drum. The rear narrower end of the drum is flared as at 20as plainly seen on Figure 4.

Bowl 21 is positioned rearwardly of drum 17. The flared end 20 of thedrum is? positioned within the mouth of the bowl so that the forward endof the bowl overlaps said being stationary the drum rotates with theshaft therewithin, and owing tothe connection between the bowl and thedrum as hereinabove described no air will escape from the bowl. Asalready mentioned the bowl remains in a stationary position and isrigidly secured to support 22 mounted on platform 10 as seen on Fig. 1.

The rear end of the bowl is covered by plate 23 which isriveted to thebowl as seen on Figs. 1 and 3, said plate 23 being provided with acentral aperture accommodating shaft 13 and within which the shaftfreely rotates. To strengthen the structure bearing 24 is rigidlysecuredby the front end to plate 23,. said bearing being also providedwith a bore which is in alinement with the aperture in plate 23. Theother end'of bearing an auxiliary driving power in addition to, theprimary power. v

For the purpose of illustration merely I have shown a turbine comprisingan outer cylindrical casing 28 with a front cover 29 and rear cover 30,said casing being stationary and being supported on the platform bymeans of support 31. An inner revolving barrel 32 is positioned withinsaid casing and rigidly secured to the shaft 13 by means of spiders 33.A series of longitudinal blades 34 is provided upon the barrel andrigidly mounted thereon. Said blades remain interposed between thebarrel and the casing as seen on Fig. 5.

Transversely of the barrel and of said blades a series of partitionwalls is posi-- tioned which walls are also rigidly secured to thebarrel. Said blades and partition walls will form a purality of pocketsof substantially square formation as is obvious. On the-drawings thereare shown four rows of pockets transversely disposed in respect of thebarrel as is seen on Fig. 4.

Above the nozzle 27 another nozzle 36 is provided through which thecompressed air is supplied to the turbine from the air compressingmachine. Both nozzles are set at an incline in the direction of therotation of the barrel so that the compressed air passing through eachnozzle may strike directly and substantially at right angle each blade34 as it passes the inner opening of the nozzle. Thus a thrust upon eachpassing blade will be im arted by the compressed air and consequent y arotary movement of the barrel will be effected.

The above mentioned air compressing machine comprises an engine 37 andairco'm-- pressor 38 which is connected with the engine by means ofdriving belt 39. The air compressing machine is further provided withair tank 40. It should be mentioned that the air compressing machine maybe of any known type and the type shown on the drawings is for thepurpose of illustration only. 7

The compr (1 air passes to the turbine through pipe 41 and hose 42. Saidpipe 41 is provided with a valve and crank 43 which connects to arm 44,the other end 1 of the arm being'pivoted tolever 45 by means of whichthe valve in pipe 41 is operated as is obvious.

tion an adjacent the first transversal serles of pockets formed byblades 34 and partition walls 35' is provided with vent 46 permittingthe exhaust of the compressed air in ,the said pockets as the revolvingbarrel rotates. The air exhausted therefrom passes through the U-shapedtube 47 into'the next transversal series of pockets. The other end ofsaid tube is disposed at an incline, as-seen on Fig. 5, so that the airmay 'squarely'hit blades 34 in said next series of pockets.

of pockets throu h vent 48 and tube 49 and 15 led to the t irdtransversal series of The air exhaustsfrom the second series pockets.The other end of said tube '49 is disposed at an incline and leads tothe third series of pockets. The air exhausts therefrom through vent 50and tube 51 and is led into the fourth series of the pockets untilexhausted to the atmosphere through vent 52. Thus it will be seen thatthe force of ,the compressed air driven into the turbine through hose 26or hose 42 is successively utllized to drive the revolving barrel of theturbine before it is exhausted into the atplatform and hinged thereto asat 57. Said wings are comprised of inner planes 58 to which arms 56 areconnected, and of outer sections 59 which are hinged tosaid inner planesby hinges 60 as illustrated on Fig. 3. The inner edges of planes 58 aretapered as at 61 so that the wings may have unimpeded upward movement.

Fig. 3 shows the position of one of the wings when making a downwardstroke with the outer section open. On upward movement of each wing theouter section will drop on its hinges as is apparent. It is thereforeclear that the air during the down- 1 ward movement of the wings willafford greater resistance than during the upward movement of said wings.Thus it will be possible for the machine to ascend.

The operation of the machine is as follows: the compressed air from theair tank 40 is let into the turbine on opening of valvev 43. The turbinerotates the main shaft 13 which in turn operates crank shaft 55, thelatter shaft being supported on the platform by braces 62. Said crankshaft reciprocates wings 58 through arms 56 causing the upward movementof the machine. The c lindrical casing 28 at its lower por- Drum 17 onthe main shaft rotates simultaneously with the revolving barrel of theturbine. On horizontal forward flight of the machine the air collectsand concentrates in said drum reaching a degree of compression in bowl21 wherefrom it is passed into the turbine through hose 26. During arapid horizontal flight of the machine the pressure of the air increasedby its resistance will be very great and the degreeof its compression inthe bowl will be corresponding. Blade 19 in the drum is not absolutelynecessary, although it forces the air into the bowl and tends toincrease the degree of compression.

Whenever expedient the supply of the compressed air from the aircompressing machine may be shut ofl by closing valve 43. Then the air inthe bowl alone will be sufficient to operate the turbine and the wingsat least to the extent of levitation or gradual descent of the machine.I

Housing 63, shown in section in Fig. 1, provides shelter for thehereinabove described mechanism.

For the lateral steering of the machine rudder 64 is provided at therear end of the platform and is pivoted in the rudder-post 65 by meansof pin 66. -The lower end of said pin is bent to form crank 67. Pin 66being rigidly secured to the rudder-stock 68 by means of pin oriscrew 69enables the rudder to turn with the pin. Arm 7 O is pivotally connectedat its rear end to said crank 67 and at its forward end to crank 71formed at'the lower end of steering post 7 2. Steering wheel 73 isprovided at the upper end of said steering post. is rigidly secured tothe platform and the steering post turns therewithin; Rearwardly of saidsteering posta chair 75. for the operator is positioned upon theplatform.

For the upward and downward steering of the machine a pair of horizontalplanes 76 is .provided 'rearwa'rdly of the platform,

each plane being positioned laterally of the rudder. Each of the saidplanes is of sub.- stantially trapezoid formation and by its longerparallel side is attached to the platform by means of hinges 77. Theforward leaves of said hinges are rabbeteil in the platform and the.rear leaves thereof are rabbeted in the planes as plainly seen onFig. 1. i A single rod 78 provides a pivotal connection forthe twoseries'of the leaves of said hinges, the leaves rabbeted in the planesbeing rigidly secured to the said rod by pins 79 as seen on Fig. 2.Owing to this arrangement the movement imparted to only one plane willbe transmitted by said rod to the other plane. Said rod by its centralportion passes through an aperture made in the rudder-post 65 and insuch manner does not 'interferewith the o eration of the rudder.

Plate 80with pro ecting lug 81 is rigidly mounted upon the uppersurfaceofone of the said planes. Arm 82 at its rear endis pivoted13058316. lug and by its forward end is pivoted to lever 83. Said leveratitslower' end is pivoted to the platform as at'84 and has an arcuaterack bar v85 disposed-laterally thereof where the ratchet bar 86 engagesFrom the description made it will be apparent that on turning one planeby lever '83 the other plane will turn also since both planes 'are'rigidly connected by means of rod 78.

While there is described herein a preferred embodiment o'fthe presentinvention,

Steering column 74 it is nevertheless to be understood that minorchanges may be made therein without'departing from the spirit and scopeof the 1nvention as claimed.

What I claim as new is:

1. In a flying machine having a platform, a main shaft disposedthereabove,'an air turbine rotating said shaft, a drum upon saidplatform for compressing the air on forward horizontal flight of themachine, hose connection between said drum and-said turbine, a crankshaft in operative engagement with said main shaft, wings pivotallymounted upon said platform, and connecting arms between said crank shaftand said wings.

2. In a flying machine having a platform, a main shaft disposedthereabove, an air turbine rotating said shaft, a drum upon saidplatform for collecting theair on forward horizontalfflight of themachine, a bowl in association with said drum wherein the collected airis compressed, hose connec-. tion'between said bowland said turbine, acrank shaft in operative engagement with said main shaft, wingspivotally mountedupon said platform, and connecting arms between saidcrank shaft and said wings.

.3. In a flying machine having a platform,

-a main shaft disposed thereabove, an air ondary means for operatingsaid turbine, a.

crank shaft in operative engagement with i said main shaft, wings uponsaid platform, and connecting arms between said. crank. shaft and saidwings.

5. In a flying machine havin a platform, a main shaft disposed thereaove, an air turbine rotating said shaft, means supplying the motivepower to said turbine, a crank shaftin operative engagement with saidmain shaft, wings upon said platform, and connecting arms between saidcrank shaft and aid wings.

6. Ina flying machine having a platform, a main shaft disposedthereabove, an air turbine rotating said shaft, fluid compressorsnpplyin the motive power to said turbine,

a crank s aft in operative engagement with

